Access
Use
Acquisition Information
Preferred Citation
Biographical Note
Scope and Content of Collection
Title: Laing Gray Cowan papers
Date (inclusive): 1948-1971
Collection Number: 74104
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
11 manuscript boxes
(4.6 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Reports, articles, seminar papers, speeches, memoranda, minutes, statistics, and printed matter, relating to political, economic
and social conditions, education, nationalism, and foreign aid in newly independent African states.
Creator:
Cowan, L. Gray (Laing Gray)
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Access
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquisition Information
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1974, with increments in 1980.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Laing Gray Cowan papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Biographical Note
Laing Gray Cowan was an American author and professor. He founded the Institute of African Studies at Columbia University
and served as the dean of the Graduate School of Public Affairs at the State University of New York at Albany. In addition,
Cowan worked for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). In 1961, he trained the first group of Peace
Corps volunteers assigned to Ghana.
Cowan wrote several books about Africa, including
The Economic Development of Morocco (1958),
Local Government in West Africa (1958),
The Dilemmas of African Independence (1964),
Education and Nation-Building in Africa (1965),
The Cost of Learning: The Politics of Primary Education in Kenya (1970), and
Black Africa: The Growing Pains of Independence (1972). He also authored
France and the Saar, 1680-1948 (1950) and
Privatization in the Developing World (1990).
Scope and Content of Collection
The Laing Gray Cowan papers include reports, articles, seminar papers, speeches, memoranda, minutes, statistics, and printed
matter related to political, economic and social conditions; education; nationalism; and foreign aid in newly independent
African states.
The
1980 Incremental Materials include memoranda, reports, and statistics related to education, local government, and rural development in Kenya, as well
as circulars issued by the Kenya Ministry of Local Government.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Africa -- Politics and government -- 1960-
Africa -- Economic conditions -- 1960-
Africa -- Social conditions
Education -- Africa
Economic assistance -- Africa
Nationalism -- Africa
Africa -- History -- 1960-